SOCRATES. - Ecclesiastical historian, born and lived in Constantinople, where he practiced the profession of legal procurator (scholasticus). In his youth he had been a disciple of the grammarians Helladius and Ammonius (Hist. eccl., V, 16, 9), who had come to Constantinople around 390.

His Ecclesiastical History, which covers the years 305-439, was published in two editions. Having realized that he could not trust Rufinus alone as a source, he reworked the first two books (v. H. Edmonds, Zweite Auflage im Altertum, Leipzig 1941, p. 372 ff.): but even for Book VI there is a double recension. His sources were: Rufinus, Eusebius, Athanasius, the collection of synodal acts of Sabinus, Eutropius, and information that came from the Novatians, for whom he shows such an interest that he was taken by some for a Novatianist; except that in V, 20 he lists the Novatians among other heretics (on the Novatian source for the history of Paul of Constantinople v. most recently W. Telfer in Harvard Theol. Rev., 43, [1950], p. 42 ff.). The political side of the theological struggles did not remain hidden from him. Origen is defended by him (VI, 13); in the question of the deposition of St. John Chrysostom he leaves his judgment in suspense (VI, 19, 8).

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: a modern critical edition of the text is still lacking; the last is that of R. Hussey, Oxford 1852, in 3 vols.; on the text v. G. Loeschke, in Hauck, Realenzybl. f. protest. Theologie u. Kirche, 3rd ed., XVIII, pp. 481-86, who also mentions the Armenian translation, on which v. P. Peeters, in Recherches d'hist. et de philologie orientales, I, Brussels 1951, pp. 310-36. Syriac fragments, v. Severus, Contra impium grammaticum, ed. Lebon in the index. V. also A. Baumstark, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur, Bonn 1922, pp. 107 and 274. On the Historia tripartita and S., v. P. Courcelle, Les lettres grecques en Occident, Paris 1943, pp. 347-49; A. Siegmund, Die Überlieferung der griech.-christl. Literatur in der lateinischen Kirche, Munich-Pasing 1949, p. 55 ff.; L. Iecp, Quellen u. Untersuchungen zu den griechischen Kirchenhistorikern (Flecheisen's Jahresberichte für class. Philol., suppl. XIV), Leipzig 1885, p. 105 ff.; F. Geppert, Die Quellen des Kirchenhistorikers S., ibid. 1898.

Erik Peterson

@incollection{ec11_socrate_3, author = {Peterson, Erik}, title = {Socrate}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {883}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/socrate-3} }

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Socrates

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